Link of the Dead
Chapter 3:
At midnight, the party had calmed down, and many drunk guests had fallen asleep on the couches, in the bathtub and even on the floor. In the main room, Manny sat on a couch, making out with a young girl.
"Manny," said the girl, "I'm thirsty. Get me a beer, please."
"There's no more," said Manny.
"There is in the back room," replied the girl.
Manny sighed and stood up and headed to the back room where the food and drinks were kept. It was cold and dark in there, and Manny had to light a candle to see his way around. As he searched through the cases of beer, Manny stumbled across a bump in the wall.
"The hell is that?" muttered Manny.
He bent down and began to pick at the bump, causing a piece of the wallpaper to tear off. The bump that was behind the wallpaper was actually a small switch.
"Sweet," said Manny.
Manny pulled the switch, which caused a passage to open up in the opposite wall. Because he was slightly drunk, the figurine fanatic did not think very before deciding to enter the passage on his own. Candle in hand, Manny made his way down a small set of stairs. He soon found himself in a dark, dungeon-like room. There were many passages and hallways, all arranged like a maze. The floor was wet and water dripped from the ceiling. Rats, bugs and other nasties infested the place.
"The fuck is this place?" demanded Manny.
He walked some more, and nearly stepped on a rat.
"AH!" shouted Manny, "Damn rats!"
Manny continued to walk down the maze. It was very quiet and all that could be heard was the sound of dripping water. The place grossed Manny out, and yet he felt compelled to explore a little more. He eventually found himself at a dead-end.
"Shit," muttered Manny.
Manny turned around and tried to head back, but quickly discovered that he was lost. Manny ran down the many passages, trying to find the exit, but he had no luck.
"Hello?" shouted Manny, "Hello? Anyone there?"
No answer.
"Help! I'm lost!"
Manny then heard a growl.
"Is anyone there?" Manny was beginning to panic.
The growl grew louder. Suddenly, a large shadow could be seen at the end of the hallway. The growling noises continued as the thing got closer. The shadow had a very inhuman appearance.
"Is th-th-this s-s-some kind of a j-joke?" asked Manny.
Suddenly the creature turned the corner and faced Manny. Manny saw the creature's horrifying silhouette standing only a couple of metres away from him. It had big red eyes that glowed in the dark. Manny tried to scream, but only a faint yelp came out. Manny immediately bolted down the hallway to get away from the creature. As he ran, he slipped on the wet floor and fell to the floor. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was surrrounded by a swarm of rotten corpses.
"Oh my God..."
Manny then let out an enormous scream. He yelled repeatedly at the top of his lungs, as he stood up and continued running.
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"Did you hear something?" asked Tetra, who was slowly waking up from her sleep.
"No," replied Link, still sleepy, "Probably just the wind."
"No," said Tetra, "It's coming from downstairs..."
"Alright," said Link, "I'll check it out."
Link put on his clothes and walked down the stairs. He saw several people in the living room, panicking.
"What the hell's going on?" demanded Link.
"It's Manny," said Aryll, "This girl sent him to get a beer, and he was taking forever. Suddenly, we heard him screaming..."
"Screaming?" asked Link, "Well, what's wrong?"
"This," said Medli, pointing to the back room.
Link walked to the back room and saw the hole in the wall.
"Shit!" snapped Link, "Where the fuck did that come from?"
"We don't know," said Makar, "But we think Manny's in trouble!"
"We gotta check it out!" said Komali.
"Count me in," said Tetra, suddenly appearing in the back room. She handed Link both his sword and his bow, along with a quiver of arrows.
"Alright," said Link, "Listen up! I'm heading down there. I want all of you to stay here. If you wanna tag along, then stick by me and don't get lost! And if anyone here senses there's something wrong, call for help!"
Link, Tetra, Komali, Medli, Makar, Gonzo and Senza began to head into the basement.
"Oh," said Link, "And if you see something that's not us coming up, CLOSE THIS DOOR. Got it?
The group then disappeared into the basment.
Moving slowly, the group made their way through the wet, dirty floors. Komali picked up a small stone and marked the walls to avoid getting lost. It was very cold down there and the gang got a very creepy feeling as they walked past hordes of rats and spiders.
"Manny!" shouted Link, "Manny, where are you?!"
"Manny!" shouted Tetra, "Answer us!"
Just then, they heard a noise. The group walked down a small, dark corridor.
"Manny?" said Link, "Is that you?"
All of a sudden, a swarm of Keese that were resting on the ceiling flew down and came after the gang.
"RUN!!" screamed Komali.
"AAAAHHH!!"
The group ran through a series of corridors before they realized the Keese were all gone.
"Where the fuck..." began Link.
"Before he could finish his sentence, Link saw a silhouette at the end of the hallway.
"Who are you?" demanded Gonzo.
The silhouette said nothing. Instead, it let out a growl.
"Manny..." said Tetra, but she knew it wasn't Manny.
It let out another growl.
"Who are you?" demanded Link, "What do you want?"
As the creature approached Link, it became clear that it was not a human. Upon gazing into its red, piercing eyes, Link froze on the spot. This was unlike any other monster Link had faced before...This one gave him a terrible vibe.
"LINK!" shouted Tetra, "Do something!"
As the creature got near Link and tried to eat him, Gonzo ran up to it and smashed it with his hammer, causing it to stagger backwards. Link pulled out his sword and stabbed the creature in the gut, but nothing happened. Link then slashed it across the chest, but still it tried to attack Link. No one knew what to do. As the creature made another attempt to eat Link, Link desperately swung his sword one last time, decapitating the creature.
The gang just stood there, staring at the bloody mess that lay before them. Link, who was breathing heavily, looked down and saw the creature's head was still trying to bite him. Link kicked the head away in disgust.
"What the hell was that?" asked Medli.
"I don't know," said Link, "But we better find Manny and get outta here FAST!"
Still shaken, the group continued their way through the maze. They got a very bad feeling as they saw several blood stained walls and rats crawling around the floor. Just then, they saw someone running towards them.
"Holy shit!" shouted Makar.
"Stop it, right there!" ordered Link, pointing his bow in the direction of the figure.
"It's me!" said Manny, "D-d-don't shoot! For the l-l-love of God!"
"Manny?" said Link, "Are you alright?"
Manny ran up to Link and hugged him.
"Manny! Calm down!" said Link, "Get a hold of yourself!"
"I'm okay!" replied Manny, "Please! G-get me outta here!"
"It's okay," said Medli, "We'll be outta here in no time."
"Um," said Komali, "We have a problem..."
The gang stared at him.
"I got so excited I...I..." began Komali, "I forgot to mark the walls. I don't know which way we came..."
"It's okay," said Link, "Let's try not to panic. We'll get out, alright?"
"Let's keep going this way," suggested Senza.
The gang searched the basement for what felt like hours They headed down a narrow hallway until they came across a staircase that went up. Unfortunately, the path was blocked by a set of iron bars.
"Sweet!" said Link, "It seems to be another way out!"
"But how will we get through?" asked Komali.
"Allow me," said Gonzo, who once again pulled out his hammer. He smashed the bars with all his might, causing the bars to dent slightly. He tried over and over again, and the bars opened up.
"Hang in there," said Gonzo, "We'll be outta here in no time!"
As Gonzo pounded away on the bars, Manny stood at a distance watching. He was still shaken up from what he saw before. As he paced around, another one of those creatures suddenly jumped up from behind a corner and pounced on Manny's back.
"AAAAAHHH!!! HELP!" screamed the boy.
"Manny!" said Link. The gang turned their attention to Manny, who was stuck in the deadly grip of the creature.
"Let him go," ordered Link, though he knew it was no use to reason with a monster.
Link pulled out his bow and arrow and pointed it at the monster's head, though with Manny's head frantically moving back and forth, it was hard to get a clear shot.
"Help me!" shouted Manny.
Just then, the creature bit down into Manny's shoulder. Manny screamed in agony as blood squirted out of his left shoulder. Tetra ran up to the creature to try to distract it. The creature yanked it's teeth out of Manny's shoulder, revealing a huge gash. The creature revealed its blood-soaked teeth to Tetra before attempting to bit Manny again. This time, however, link got a clear shot and fired an arrow straight into the creature's head, puncturing its large eyeball. As the creature died, it dropped the injured Manny to the floor.
"Manny," said Tetra, "Are you all right?"
"OW!" shouted Manny, "My arm! My arm!"
Tetra pulled out a knife and used it to cut a piece of her vest off, which she tied around the damaged area.
"Now what?" asked Link.
"Sh!" said Makar, "Did you hear that?"
"There's more of them," said Link, "We gotta get out of here!"
"But," began Senza, "The bars..."
"Forget it!" said Link, "If we don't move, we may be surrounded by these things! Come on!"
The gang began to run down the hallway. Behind them, they saw several of those hideous creatures right on their trail. After running for a few minutes, they eventually noticed markings on the wall.
"Yes!" said Komali, "My markings! We're back on track! It's further up ahead!"
The gang ran. Though the monsters were very slow, Manny's injury slowed him down, thus allowing them to catch up.
"Come on, Manny!" said Link.
"My arm!" said Manny, "It hurts! I don't think I can make it..."
Link then placed Manny's arm around his shoulder and helped carry him across the basement.
"The exit!" announced Gonzo.
Right up ahead, they saw the staircase that lead them out of the basement. Medli and Makar made it out first, followed by Gonzo and Senza.
"Come on," said Tetra, "Hurry up, Link!"
"GO!" said Link, "Just go!"
The monsters had gotten very close to Link and Manny. Knowing there was not much left to do, Tetra ran upstairs and greeted the crowd of people that had been anxiously waiting for the crew to come back up.
"Where's Link?" asked Aryll, worried.
Before Tetra could say anything, Link began shouting:
"Hurry up! Close the door! They're right behind us!!!"
The crowd of partygoers nervously looked down into the basement and saw Link and Manny running up. Behind them, also climbing the stairs, was a swarm of ugly monsters.
"What the hell are they..." began Beedle.
"Just close this damn door!" ordered Link.
"Where's the switch?" asked Loot.
"On the other wall," replied Manny.
Link and Manny made up the stairs and into the backroom. Loot ran across the room and pulled the switch on the wall, shutting the door right on time. Gonzo and Senza ran around the room, finding stuff to barricade the door with.
Link and Manny sat on the floor, out of breath.
"Link..." whispered Aryll.
Link just sat there breathing.
"Get the first aid kit," he said, "NOW!"
Several people ran around looking for where the kit may be.
"Is Manny..." asked Aryll.
"He's fine, Aryll," said, "I'm fine. Just stay away from the basement..."
Just then, a random guy came up to Link with a first aid kit. Link grabbed it and stood up.
"Alright," announced Link, "Listen up! We're getting the fuck out of here! Hear me? We are getting out of this cabana right now...No, we are getting off this island!"
Everyone just stared.
"MOVE!"
Still shaken, Link lead the group of people outside the cabana.
"I expect everyone to be outside in five minutes!"
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Meanwhile, back in the basement, several of those creatures were walking around. They evetually stumbled across the staircase that lead out of the basement. However, with bars bent out of shape, the creatures were able to squeeze their way through. Before long, they began to pop out of a hole in the middle of the forest...